SPring-8, the large synchrotron radiation facility

RIKEN (Ryoji Noyori, President) and JASRI (Yoshiharu Doi, President) have succeeded in developing an X-ray image detector, the multi-port charge-coupled device (MPCCD) detector, that is optimized for experiments conducted using SACLA,^*1 an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). An international collaborative research group led by Takaki Hatsui (team leader) of the Data Acquisition Team, Beam Line Research and Development Group, RIKEN SPring-8^*3 Center (Tetsuya Ishikawa, Director); Takashi Kameshima (research scientist) of the XFEL Utilization Division, JASRI; Toshio Horigome (section chief) of the Optical Technology Section, Technical Division, Institute for Molecular Science; Hajime Murao (chief enginner) of Meisei Electric Co., Ltd.; David Burt (chief engineer) of e2V, UK; and Andrew Holland (chief technology officer) and Karen Holland (chief executive officer) of XCAM Ltd., UK.
SACLA, an X-ray Free-Electron laser^*1, is a powerful tool for analyzing the movement of atoms in a material. In experiments using SACLA, the target sample is irradiated with the generated X-ray laser, and the pattern of the scattered or transmitted X-rays is measured using an X-ray image detector. For the highly precise measurement of the X-ray patterns, 1) high radiation tolerance, 2) efficient charge collection to measure a large number of X-ray photons, 3) precise measurement of all X-ray laser shots of SACLA, and 4) a sensor larger than 100×100 mm², are required. Until recently, however, such a high-performance X-ray image detector has not been available.
The collaborative research group developed the MPCCD detector that satisfies the above requirements for the high-precision measurement of X-ray patterns utilizing the advanced technologies associated with CCD sensors.^*2 With this detector, weak signals from a single photon to strong signals from several thousand photons can be measured simultaneously and precisely using a large-area sensor under severe radiation environment of SACLA. In addition, the detector is operable synchronously with the repetition of SACLA X-ray pulses, enabling the monitoring of real time processes at the speed of atomic motion, and the acquisition of a large volume of data to observe the nanometer scale image. The developed X-ray image detector is an essential technical platform accelerating XFEL science. It is expected that the detector will be used in various experiments using the XFEL as a primary data acquisition apparatus to explore new fields of research opened up by the XFEL.

This research was partially supported by the X-ray Free-Electron Laser Priority Strategy Program, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The results of this study were published online in the American scientific journal Review of Scientific Instruments on 14 March 2014 Vol. 85, Article number 033110.

Publication:
"Development of an X-ray Pixel Detector with Multi-port Charge-Coupled Device for X-ray Free-Electron Laser Experiments"
Takashi Kameshima, Shun Ono, Togo Kudo, Kyosuke Ozaki, Yoichi Kirihara, Kazuo Kobayashi, Yuichi Inubushi, Makina Yabashi, Toshio Horigome, Andrew Holland, Karen Holland, David Burt, Hajime Murao, and Takaki Hatsui
Review of Scientific Instruments, 2014